Is there any reason to play BLM over RDM now days?

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Originally Posted by Elnidfse

That's not true at all, however. A RDM offers substantially more screw-up insurance in the form of instant revives and last minute top-offs. Unless you mean to say "taking a BLM will make the tier unclearable" which isn't what anybody is saying. The usefulness of an instant cast revive is so large that I can't even begin to explain the implications of what that means for progression.

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Sorry, but that's just not true. If that's your only argument, then SMN would have been "the" DPS to have for raids... and it wasn't.

EDIT: And read Claire Pendragon's post.

RDM did as much dps as BLM because of the mana glitch before 4.05. Now that it is finally fixed BLM is king of caster dps.

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Originally Posted by Kaedan

Sorry, but that's just not true. If that's your only argument, then SMN would have been "the" DPS to have for raids... and it wasn't.

EDIT: And read Claire Pendragon's post.

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You're forgetting the part that unlike pre 4.05 BLM, Summoner was not within range of BLM when people were running Gordias. Unless you're referring to the time when SMN was THE DPS (behind 4 BRDs..)

And no offense to Claire Pendragon, but the phrase "you will fail if you die more than 2 times" is false and I can prove that. And guess who carried the burden of our raises? I won't pretend that I'm some ultra raider. I'm extremely casual, and for our extremely casual raids we are full of people who are human enough to make mistakes or is it "we are bad enough that we make many mistakes", a RDM is mighty useful. Especially in situations when a healer drops, because that can be recovered easily with the raise, shift, refresh wombo combo. The only times things are really unrecoverable if your DPS is super turbo good is when everybody in the group forgets mechanics and die miserably and it snowballs out of control. Like Zurvan if your healers weren't fast enough on the uptake and he applied seals which then blew up and killed everybody.

And man on that topic I can't count the number of times somebody resurrected would just stand outside of the seal location because they didn't want to die again. Which I guess makes sense, double weakness and all.

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Originally Posted by Claire_Pendragon

[B]
EDIT[/COLOR]: 3 raises and Im out of MP and cant DPS. Which means I need to use raise 1 more time than SMN can. I can use mana shift 2-3 times (2 is safer) but a BLM can mana shift a healer more often, leading to the healer doing more dmg, or more raises. BLM does have its support, too bad most BLMs wont use addle, mana shift, etc. (Though a non role skill, but BLM only skill of the like would have been better, with the embolden like ability on SMN)

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a little reinforce of the mana shift part, you can give BRD MP to allow them to sustain foe req a little longer, it's not much ye but it's something to consider

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Originally Posted by Elnidfse

You're forgetting the part that unlike pre 4.05 BLM, Summoner was not within range of BLM when people were running Gordias. Unless you're referring to the time when SMN was THE DPS (behind 4 BRDs..)

And no offense to Claire Pendragon, but the phrase "you will fail if you die more than 2 times" is false and I can prove that.

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I understand people can be good enough to carry others, I see it plenty. (Plus if they are that good, you're not going to need raise)
But in the average Pug group, the standard number of deaths they can afford, w/o players to carry them, seems to always be 2.
When there is 3+ deaths, it seems the average pug group will see enrage.
Ive had a group carry with 1 DPS, 1 Tank, and 1 Healer, while the rest of the group was dead from only 20% into the fight.
But for clarification, I didnt say the group can only afford 2 rezzes in total, I was saying I can only raise twice, before it hurts my MP enough to bottom out of MP, and lower my DPS.
This of course changes depending on down time, and BRD/MCHs.

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Originally Posted by Remedi

a little reinforce of the mana shift part, you can give BRD MP to allow them to sustain foe req a little longer, it's not much ye but it's something to consider

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Good to know, I actually wasnt sure how BRD handled its buffs now. (I really dislike playing BRD/MCH and usually casters, so I tend not to look too heavily into how they work, even though I should.)
I do see BRDs low on MP plenty of times, and debated on mana shifting them, or even PLDs. (I would give it to a DRK, if they ever learned how to turn dark side off when there isnt any mobs, and are at 0mp)

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Originally Posted by Claire_Pendragon

Embolden on the other hand, which isnt amazing, is unfairly given to RDM.

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So who is more deserving of Embolden among the casters? Genuinely curious. BLM is the casting samurai, so not them. By process of elimination SMN? What did they, the top parsers and in demand job in HW, do to deserve it?

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Originally Posted by GospelVhae

So who is more deserving of Embolden among the casters? Genuinely curious. BLM is the casting samurai, so not them. By process of elimination SMN? What did they, the top parsers and in demand job in HW, do to deserve it?

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I'll remind you that SMN's were dumpster trash in gordias. But that's aside the point. You don't balance with favoritism and you certainly don't balance around past performance. You balance around balance. Not that I agree with him that EMbolden shouldn't be on RDM, because I think it should.

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Originally Posted by GospelVhae

So who is more deserving of Embolden among the casters? Genuinely curious. BLM is the casting samurai, so not them. By process of elimination SMN? What did they, the top parsers and in demand job in HW, do to deserve it?

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What the heck? Whats with the grudge?

Anyways, looking at CURRENT performance, I would probably have to guess SMN, but I not a 100% on that, as I dunno enough about them to make that arguement.

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Originally Posted by Claire_Pendragon

What the heck? Whats with the grudge?

Anyways, looking at CURRENT performance, I would probably have to guess SMN, but I not a 100% on that, as I dunno enough about them to make that arguement.

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The only reason I disagree about putting something else on SMN is that they have a lot of tools that would benefit from simply being made better.

Edit: Much better. (yes this was worthy of an edit. Who in the world thought of an ability to buff nearest summon was a good idea)

I dont care who gets Embolden, I think it fits Rdm just fne. What I would like to see is Embolden buff magic dps as well as physical, that way making party comps with more than 1 caster viable. As it stands with Raging Strikes and Foe Requiem gone, we don't have anything left that would buff magic dps.

Black mages are better looking, have higher salaries, and and are at the forefront of aetherial study.

Red mages are hippy communists who tell Big Magic that they're killing the planet.

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Originally Posted by Lelila38

Foe Requiem gone, we don't have anything left that would buff magic dps.

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Foe requiem is still here althought it's nerfed, contagionon the other hand is the new foe requiem

I would like for ppl to remember it, I know that ppl consider SMN trash but saying that there is no way to buff magical dmg is simply wrong

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Originally Posted by Remedi

Foe requiem is still here althought it's nerfed, contagionon the other hand is the new foe requiem

I would like for ppl to remember it, I know that ppl consider SMN trash but saying that there is no way to buff magical dmg is simply wrong

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I never said Smn is trash. I simply don't play Smn, and since you rarely meet them these days I didn't know they had a skill like that. Forgive the misinformation on my part.
Foe Requiem was redesigned and isn't a magical buff anymore. It increases all damage taken by 3%, before it used to reduce magical resistance by 10%.
Raging Strike is now Brd exclusive, noone else can use it.
Anyway, let me reword then: there's so many ways to buff physical dps, but as a magical dps I would also like to have more things that buff my dps.

as much as I like the blm 4.05 "buff", it's still not enough, .. rdm still doing better or as good as blm (unless blm proc and mechanic lucky), while rdm brings utility..

1) the Umbra ice hearts/B4 rota still needs to be fixed

2) when casting F1 under astral ice, we should do into astral fire and NOT have the astral cancelled off completely (and lose enochian/ foul build up)

3) Blm dps should be next to Sam, one of the highest with no utility

4) Smn should have overall the same dps as rdm

There is also the fact many BLM running around right now are just RDM off-specs, so their gear is not optimized and BLM is probably the class with the best scalling in the game. As an example, on a dummy I deal around 10% more damage as BLM than as RDM, and that is with a 10 lower ilvl weapon and no spell speed materia, with full spell speed materias I could probably open a 20%+ gap.

Which is kinda sad, BLM gear is crap for the other 2 casters and vice versa, and I really can not afford to keep 2 sets of gear with full materia.

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Originally Posted by Nezia

BLM gear is crap for the other 2 casters and vice versa, and I really can not afford to keep 2 sets of gear with full materia.

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You can't even, I tried. Tomestone gear is unique, so you can only have one set at a time. Really stupid design, you're basically forced to share sets and have one job with melds that don't fit it. Making it really unfavourable (don't want to say unplayable) to have 2 jobs geared up equally at the same time.

I just wish RDM wasn't so boring to play - one day I'll get it past 67. Probably.

Speaking of Foe, is SMN the only job with caster exclusive buff now? I believe in the day of caster comps being competitive, but I think we might actually get toggleable battle music before that.

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Originally Posted by Lelila38

You can't even, I tried. Tomestone gear is unique, so you can only have one set at a time. Really stupid design, you're basically forced to share sets and have one job with melds that don't fit it. Making it really unfavourable (don't want to say unplayable) to have 2 jobs geared up equally at the same time.

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Oh wait... You can not? o.O

I mean... I did not even try it, since I knew I could not afford it anyway, but this is just another factor that goes against BLM, spell speed is bad for RDM and SMN and you can not have 2 sets of gear with different melds even if you have the money to afford it, wtf were they thinking?

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Originally Posted by Nezia

Oh wait... You can not? o.O

I mean... I did not even try it, since I knew I could not afford it anyway, but this is just another factor that goes against BLM, spell speed is bad for RDM and SMN and you can not have 2 sets of gear with different melds even if you have the money to afford it, wtf were they thinking?

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This has always been how it works. But assuming you do raiding, each slot has 2 items to choose from, upgraded creation gear and savage omega gear. So you can have one piece for BLM and one piece for RDM/SMN. But this isn't perfect since some pieces are best for all 3. If you have full 340 gear tho, your melds arent going to matter when it comes to clearing. Just meld for your preferred class, and youll still be fine for your off classes.

Blm feels fun and rewarding when you juggle your death magic.
Rdm feels like playing whack a mole with procs

I honestly would like if they somehow split casters into separate armor categories. Like cloth armor - blm, smn; light armor - rdm, maybe something else. It could make magical compositions overall easier without all casters rolling for the same set.

I think BLM is supposed to be the best caster DPS (probably rivalling SAM when allowed to stand still?) However it's really hard to maintain that with all the movement mechanics involved in pretty much any fight. Which RDM has no problems with most of the time. Meaning RDM usually comes out on top in actual combat scenarios.

Then again, maybe BLM players just need to get really used to a certain fights mechanics so they can use their procs (T3, F3), Swiftcast & Triplecast at the exact right time.
I'm not a pro BLM though so I might be wrong but that's what it feels like to me so far. (I'm trying to learn BLM atm.)

The 4.05 buffs to BLM were great but I doubt it's enough to make BLM as wanted as SAM.

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Originally Posted by Lelila38

Anyway, let me reword then: there's so many ways to buff physical dps, but as a magical dps I would also like to have more things that buff my dps.

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Tbh the physical dmg buffs are 2 while the magical dmg one is only one, but it has a higher uptime then both of them, well you could count Devotion too (5% magical dmg increase) although it's clunky to use and ST only

edit: BTW was not accusing you of saying that SMN are trash

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Originally Posted by Gwaeron89

I honestly would like if they somehow split casters into separate armor categories. Like cloth armor - blm, smn; light armor - rdm, maybe something else. It could make magical compositions overall easier without all casters rolling for the same set.

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My armory is already chock full as is. If we could separate materia from armor to Soulstones instead, that'd be a large step in the right direction.

mnk (brotherhood), drg (dragon sight: olny on close members = only melee hence physical dps) & drg again (piercing debuff, which is for ranged / physical again), rdm (embolden), smn (ifrit), nin/sam/war slashing (physical)

vs

smn (garuda) magical

(devotion is not a magical buff, but a "general attack potency" buff henve both physical and magical)

Dragon sight is an all dmg increase also plenty of possibilities to be in melee for a caster (there have been in the past, and there are now), I will say that you are right on devotion I read it wrong

as for the resistance down debuff, tbh those are like a core kit of the physical dmg dealers I wouldn't really considered buffs per se, especially since they part of their rotation

as for ifrit, well I suppose a good SMN would do a switcheroo, but I'd say he wants garuda most of the time

I'll just paste this here: BLM 5000 dps in Omega Savage 3

Whats the status of determination right now? Is it better than Crit for us?

I also noticed he used b4 in every cycle. Would he have done more ignoring it?

Or are we missing something?

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Originally Posted by Psycofang

I also noticed he used b4 in every cycle. Would he have done more ignoring it?

Or are we missing something?

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He seemed to make incredibly efficient use of those 'extra' fire IVs.

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Originally Posted by IllyriaKnotfred

He seemed to make incredibly efficient use of those 'extra' fire IVs.

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He's spell speed->direct hit->det->crit melded, and Fire IVs hits for more than 20k

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Originally Posted by CapricaLangley

He's spell speed->direct hit->det->crit melded, and Fire IVs hits for more than 20k

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Maybe time to drop some crit for some Det

Regarding the comments about only having 1 tomestone gear piece due to uniqueness: there is always retainers. Inconvenient, but a way to get more than 1 of the same set.

If you're so serious about min-maxing and besting the hardest content, you're going to play whatever your group needs and what's optimal for the fight. If you're like the majority of the playerbase, just play what you like.

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Originally Posted by Claire_Pendragon

Embolden on the other hand, which isnt amazing, is unfairly given to RDM. (I feel it's more so there to add complexity, since u need to be in melee range to hit melee with it, otherwise if u sit back to cast, you just hit your healers with it, leading to no added dmg. If you have a BRD or MCH, then they dont get it, as you're now in melee range.)
[COLOR="darkred"]

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There's nothing off about it. A ranged caster that builds up to a powerful melee combo has a cd in Embolden that works beautifully (and optimally) with said transition. Makes sense mechanically and for the flavor of the job. It's also just another button to press. For a job that's mindful of its range, there's nothing complex about it.

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Originally Posted by Daws

If you're so serious about min-maxing and besting the hardest content, you're going to play whatever your group needs and what's optimal for the fight. If you're like the majority of the playerbase, just play what you like.



There's nothing off about it. A ranged caster that builds up to a powerful melee combo has a cd in Embolden that works beautifully (and optimally) with said transition. Makes sense mechanically and for the flavor of the job. It's also just another button to press. For a job that's mindful of its range, there's nothing complex about it.

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Erm... Someone correct me if I'm wrong but... The melee combo RDMs do when its enchanted is magical damage and not physical...

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Originally Posted by IllyriaKnotfred

Erm... Someone correct me if I'm wrong but... The melee combo RDMs do when its enchanted is magical damage and not physical...

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This is correct. Enchanted does Unaspected, which is 'Magic'. The regular versions do physical (Which funny enough, lets you hit magical immune things back in the ole 2.0 days)

Fleche and Contra are physical though, I believe.

Also doesn't Embolden physical damage buff only effect people in your group?

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Originally Posted by IllyriaKnotfred

Erm... Someone correct me if I'm wrong but... The melee combo RDMs do when its enchanted is magical damage and not physical...

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Embolden increases YOUR magical damage, AND your party's physical damage.

You cast Embolden. You get +10% Magical damage. everyone else in your party gets +10% Physical damage.

it's basically built for use during our Enchanted Melee Combo.

It buffs the rdms damage magically.

Magic buff for rdm phys for everyone else.

I was summoner up into stormblood (you already know why everyone jumped ship after level 70, what a wait of time), I tried redmage out and while it was fun in the beginning it got old and boring real fast. But then I started leveling my blackmage omg what have I been missing and this is after the recent update, that dps tho!! I feel like a real grenade launcher with every attack, it took me a sec to get my rotation down ( ps4 player, button mapping) but I love it. I play what I want, I don't raid and can careless about endgame anything I just play for fun, and I run dungeons just for leveling. long story short I feel like a power house with blm, but when ( if they ever) fix summoner I will go back to playing summoner because that will always be my first and favorite job.